The United States is faced with a variety of troubles, at home and abroad.

We are still dealing with ISIS in the Middle East, with help from enemies like Iran. But it looks like the most pressing danger lies with North Korea.

It seems like the rogue nation’s claims of nuclear capability are more real than previously expected.

From Daily Wire:

According to NBC News, the intelligence released by The Washington Post on Tuesday stating that the Defense Intelligence Agency of the Pentagon believes North Korea has successfully miniaturized a nuclear weapon to place on top of a ballistic missile has been confirmed by the CIA and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence…

The Post quoted the Defense Intelligence Agency stating, “The IC [intelligence community] assesses North Korea has produced nuclear weapons for ballistic missile delivery, to include delivery by ICBM-class missiles…”

National security adviser H.R. McMaster offered his response to the growing threat: “We have to provide all options . . . and that includes a military option.”

In July, North Korea launched its first successful tests of a missile that with intercontinental range, as the Post reported…

Robert Litwak, a nonproliferation expert, said, “What initially looked like a slow-motion Cuban missile crisis is now looking more like the Manhattan Project, just barreling along. There’s a sense of urgency behind the program that is new to the Kim Jong Un era.”

Putting together North Korea’s miniaturization of nuclear warheads with its ICBM ability to reach as far as Chicago, it for sure puts all of America except the east coast in North Korea’s nuclear sights. That’s about 200 million American souls.

Recent weeks have revealed North Korea’s eagerness to go to war. The tiny nation has decided to pick a fight with the U.S., because we are allies with neighbors Japan and South Korea. North Korea would like nothing more than to conquer these nations, plundering them of the resources its people so desperately need.

The United Nations has recently passed sanctions on the nation, pressuring them to back down. Even China has vowed not to help North Korea, should they jump into conflict.

But we may not have a chance to protect our people, should North Korea strike first. If their weapons are as advanced as they claim, few places in the Pacific are safe.

Do we wait for them to strike first? Should the U.S. plan a preemptive attack to protect the many lives in South Korea, Japan, and U.S. territories?